Transforming Marketing From a Cost-Center to a Growth-Driver

Why Buyer Understanding Matters

Buying Groups Across Behavioral Healthcare

Lightning Step, a behavioral health software provider, had previously worked with agencies that lacked an in-depth understanding of the behavioral health sector and buying roles within it. Behavioral health is often grouped with other healthcare organizations, but has a significantly different audience, with different needs and aspirations.

The result was poor marketing outcomes. Because of these bad experiences, Lightning Step's leadership team was hesitant to hire another agency and was discerning about the selection process. Addressing these issues, along with filling specific gaps, was crucial.

Pressure-Testing Messaging

Uncovering Core Themes and Channels

At the core of Ironpaper’s methodology is a commitment to buyer relevance. We don’t lead with brand stories. Instead, we lead with the buyer’s reality. For Lightning Step, that meant turning off a legacy campaign that spoke about the company and launching one that spoke to their audience’s challenges.

We embedded messaging and theme testing into every paid search campaign, using real-time buyer signals to refine and expand what resonated. The top-performing messages weren’t confined to one channel, they became the backbone of a broader strategy across LinkedIn, programmatic platforms, and even Meta.

While Meta is often underutilized in B2B, Lightning Step’s behavioral health audience engaged heavily on that platform. By meeting them where they were, we expanded reach and accelerated lead quality.

Shifting Focus to Highly Strategic Accounts

Using an Owned Tech-Stack to Capitalize on Buyer Intent

When Lightning Step started their partnership with Ironpaper, they had a marketing tech stack that included a CRM and an account-based marketing platform. They saw value in each of these platforms, so Ironpaper worked with them to understand the current value and further potential they represented.

As the marketing program matured, we took over the process of developing and pulling ABM lists and information for Lightning Step’s target accounts. Then, we input those companies and ABM lists into Facebook, LinkedIn, and StackAdapt to put our ads in front of the right employees from those organizations.

Utilizing this tech stack and target account process, we interacted with 15 target enterprise accounts and put over $1M in their pipeline.

Ironpaper helped drive both measurable and lasting impact.

This is the difference between tactic-focused marketing and building a system for growth.

Through working sessions and time spent helping them understand Ironpaper’s proven methodology and see it in action, we developed a trusting relationship with Lightning Step. This allowed us to focus on highly valuable activities instead of simple production work, providing Lightning Step with strategic guidance and the return on investment that their previous agencies didn’t generate.

Our work extended to improving the website, building buyer pathways, and strengthening Lightning Step's presence in the market. By understanding the themes and messages that resonated, Lightning Step now has the right foundation in place for the business's future sustainability.